Community Rallies in Search for East Dubuque Teenager

EAST DUBUQUE, Illinois - It's been about nine weeks since 14-year-old Chyenne Kircher left a note, telling her family she ran away.

Her mom says Chyenne functions below grade level and isn't the type to do something like this.

It seems everyone in the small community of East Dubuque wants to find Chyenne Kircher.

Police Chief Steve O'Connell said, "There's a very large percentage of people in this community who know Chyenne. We describe her as a social butterfly. She's out and about and she can be anywhere in town. "

Kathy Stierman is an art teacher in the East Dubuque School district, she's known Chyenne for seven years.

Teachers say they're very worried about the missing teen.

Stierman said, "it seems like sometimes kids slip through the cracks and we have to make sure the whole community, the whole tri-state area knows we are still looking for Chyenne."

Police say people who've seen her picture say they've spotted her in Dubuque. A recent k-9 unit search suggested the same thing.

O'Connell said, "we believe we were following some of her activities in town and some of those actually led us to Dubuque. "

Police say they are investigating all possibilities , including if it was actually Chyenne who wrote the runaway note.

O'Connell said, "we sent her note along with numerous samples of her handwriting to the state police lab. A handwriting specialist who compared her homework along with the note and they're written by the same person."

Earlier this month Lamar Advertising in Dubuque put up a missing child alert on some of its digital billboards.